Crowded
by shepardxx
Summary: Growing up in Tulsa ain't all that easy; somehow this group of greasers make it work. A coming of age story. *A few OC characters included.
1. Information about the story

**INFO***

**D**ESCRIPTIO**N**

_Growing up in Tulsa ain't all that easy; somehow this group of greasers make it work. _

**S**ETTIN**G**

Tulsa, Oklahoma, September 26, 1966

**C**HARACTER**S ***(More may be included later on in story)

Danny Carter: Age, 17, Birthday, October 3 (Senior)

Lisa Carter: Age, 15, Birthday, November 14 (sophomore)

Joey Carter: Age, 12, Birthday, June 21 (7th Grade)

Darry Curtis: Age, 20, Birthday, January 5

Sodapop Curtis: Age, 16, Birthday, October 8

Ponyboy Curtis: Age, 14, Birthday, July 22 (freshman)

Steve Randle: Age, 17, Birthday, April 15 (Junior)

Dally Winston: Age, 16, Birthday, November 9

Two-Bit Mathews: Age, 18, Birthday, June 20 (Junior)

Lily Mathews: Age, 9, Birthday, August 12 (4th Grade)

Johnny Cade: Age, 16, Birthday, March 1 (sophomore)

Tim Shepard: Age, 18, Birthday, November 5

Curly Shepard: Age, 15, Birthday, October 23 (sophomore)

Angela Shepard: Age, 13, Birthday, September 4 (8th grade)

Jason McCoy: Age, 15, Birthday, January 12 (sophomore)

Kelley Myers: Age 18, Birthday, May 3

Sally Myers: Age, 15, Birthday, May 11 (sophomore)

Debbie Maloney: Age, 16, Birthday, July 9 (sophomore)

Kathy Devier: Age, 16, Birthday, February 17 (Junior)

Kip Devier: Age, 18, Birthday, January 1

Evie Sanders: Age, 17, Birthday, June 16 (Junior)

Sylvia Jones: Age, 16, Birthday, December 15 (Junior)

Criticism is welcome.


	2. Chapter One

CHAPTER** ONE **

_ MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1966_

"Dammit, Danny," Lisa Carter growled at her older brother. "Shut the window, would ya?" Rolling her eyes, she continued to grasp at her blonde curls which were flying all over the place due to the amount of wind circulating inside the old beat up J-100 Kaiser. Letting out a low groan, Danny turned into Will Roger High School's parking lot and pulled into an empty spot.

"Why didn't you just get a ride from Sally like you usually do?" Danny asked, pulling the keys out of the ignition. His upper lip was slightly curled and Lisa could tell that he was praying that her riding with him to school in the morning wasn't going to be a daily occurrence.

Kicking the passenger side door open, she jumped out of the vehicle and adjusted her hair. "Kelley left for college yesterday, remember?" Lisa snapped. She was still bitter about how her best friend, Sally Myers's, older sister wasn't going to be in Tulsa anymore. Danny moaned as he let himself out of the driver's seat.

"You're kidding me, right?" He wasn't at all bitter about his ex-girlfriend's departure (maybe a little but he wasn't going to let anyone know that), he was just damn annoyed that he was gonna be left with driving his kid sister to school. Joey he was alright with, he wasn't even thirteen yet, and he wasn't a girl. Plus, he dropped him off at the middle school it wasn't like he was gonna deal with having to drive him home, he'd just take the bus. But with Lisa, it was a whole different story. He'd just wished he hadn't been held back in eighth grade and maybe just maybe, he'd be off at college too.

"Don't leave without me after school or I'll bash your head in." Lisa threatened, just before turning around to make her way towards the entrance of the school. Danny silently cursed himself and made sure he didn't slam his car door shut no matter how mad he was, and then stalked off to go find his good friend Two-Bit Mathews before homeroom started.

XxX

"Just look at him," Kathy Devier scowled. She was propped up against her cool metal locker with her arms crossed and wishing the daggers she was staring at Two-Bit's back were real. "He's such a jackass."

Evie Sanders almost laughed; instead, she decided to mess with her a little. "Oh, I know," She cooed. "You should hear what Lisa says about him." Clacking her teeth, Kathy gives her smart-ass friend an evil glare.

"You know very well that I am not talking about Daniel Carter." Kathy returns her vision back to Two-Bit and his annoyingly cute best friend, Danny. "And we all know Lisa would never talk shit about her brother to anyone no matter how pissed she was at him, she's way too loyal if you ask me."

"If only your boyfriend had that quality," Evie couldn't help the smirk that had applied itself to her face.

"_Ex_- boyfriend." Kathy corrected, angrily. She hated how Evie always took her and Two-Bit's fights as a joke, but then again practically everyone always did. They were such an off-again-on-again couple no one seemed to know the score with them half the time.

"Yeah, for the next two days." Evie reminded her. _She _seemed to know the deal, and Kathy hated that. Letting out a loud obnoxious sigh, Kathy kicked herself off her locker and grabbed onto Evie's forearm.

"The bell's about to ring, let's get going." She huffed. Grinning, Evie nodded, and followed her friend to their first hour class.

"Get Keven to beat him up." Evie joked, but when Kathy didn't answer she decided to leave it alone. For all she knows Kathy would get her brother to beat _her _up!

XxX

Curly Shepard didn't mind sharing a class with Ponyboy Curtis. What he _did _mind was that he was the only sophomore in the whole damn class. Was he really that stupid to be the only freshmen to have failed Global History? It's been twenty days and Curly still didn't want to accept the fact that maybe he was. Leaning back in his chair, itching for a cigarette, he chomped hard on his inner cheek wishing he was anywhere but sitting in that classroom. Sitting next to Pony wasn't much fun because he wasn't the kind of greaser to joke around with in class, so he was really all to himself.

Curly sighed loudly just as Mr. Arlington had begun to speak and earned himself a stern look from the teacher. He stifled his smirk and leaned forward letting his chair smack down with a loud _CLACK! _A few snickers filled the air and Mr. A rolled his eyes. He was used to Curly's antics but he never was soft with him about them.

"You got a problem over there, Mr. Shepard?" Curly crinkled his nose. Mr. Shepard? What was he, his father? He shook his head and the teacher turned his attention away from him.

Curly sat still for a few more minutes while Mr. Arlington put some notes up on the chalkboard. Maybe the reason why he failed last year was because the lack of notes he copied. Looking around the classroom he realized that he was also the only one without any sort of supplies for the class. He cleared his throat then turned to Pony and gave him a big smile. "Mind if I borrow a pen, and a piece of paper?" He asked.

"I've got some paper, but only one pen." Ponyboy told him, handing him the white sheet. Curly nodded and whipped around in his seat and eyed the pen and pencil lying on the girl's desk. Without even asking, he picked up the pen and turned back to the board, and wrote his name at the top of his paper. He heard the girl gasp and grumble a little. Not-so-gently, she tapped on his shoulder. He turned back around and winked at her, wishing he knew her name.

"What can I do for you, baby?"

With a disgusted scoff the girl shot her hand out to grab the pen back, but Curly threw it forward and it hit the boy that was sitting in front of him in the head. The boy instantly shot Curly a dirty look. "The hell is your problem?" He accused, loudly. Mr. Arlington looked up from his desk and wasn't surprised when he saw Curly staring right back at him.

"What's going on over there?" He said, like he didn't even care.

"Well, sir -"

Before Curly could come up with a smartass response, the annoyed girl stood up from her seat, "Curly took my pen and threw it at Michael." Curly almost wanted to laugh at the way she presented the story. Mr. Arlington looked over at Michael, who nodded his head and held up the pen that was the cause of the altercation.

"Mr. Shepard," Mr. Arlington sighed. Curly rolled his head around his neck and sighed back. _Again _with the Mr. Shepard. "If you can't control yourself I suggest you leave." This time, Curly didn't even hold back his grin.

"Alright, fine with me." Picking up his piece of paper, he crumpled it up, threw it at Michael's head, and started towards the door. Mr. Arlington jumped out of his seat and ordered him to the principal's office.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Curly replied. But hell if he was actually going to where Mr. A wanted him, it was second hour and he was going home.

XxX

"Would you stop pickin' at my fries, girl," Debbie Maloney snapped at her friend that was sitting across from her. "Get your own."

Sally Myer's rolled her eyes and leaned back in the red leather booth at the Dingo. "You know I ain't got no money." She told Debbie. Pulling a dollar bill out of her pocket, Lisa handed it to her desperate friend.

"Go get yourself some fries."

Sally's eyes glistened and she squealed. "Thank you so-so-so-so-so-so much, Leece!"

Debbie frowned and popped a fry in her mouth. "If you keep giving that girl money you'll be just as broke as she is."

Lisa shrugged and picked at the seams of her old blue jeans. She didn't mind loaning Sally a dollar, and it's not like her family was broke. Sally's actually sort of _was._ Looking over at Debbie's light blue skirt, and pretty white blouse Lisa scowled a little. She knew she shouldn't be jealous of her middle-class friend, but she was. To make herself feel better, she stole a glance at Sally, who was also wearing a skirt. Her's had been pink and a little shorter than Debbie's, but it's not like it was high fashion or anything.

A few seconds later Sally was sitting next to Lisa enjoying her fries with a big smile on her face. Lisa wished she felt that happy. She was still mad about what had about earlier that day with her brother.

"I wish Kelley was still here." Lisa blurted. Sally looked over at her and nodded in agreement.

"Me too, the bus I take to the school is just as horrible as the school itself is."

"That's why I have my parents drive me." Debbie added.

Sally shook her head, shoving a heap of more fries into her mouth before speaking again. That was Sal for you, not really much into table manners. "Both my parents work in the morning, they couldn't drive me even if they wanted to."

Lisa pouted her lips and stole a fry from Sally's tray. "I hate how Danny drives," She complained. "Plus, he hates driving me – maybe I'll just start walking."

Debbie spit her coke back into her cup, and the girls made a face. "You can't _walk _are you crazy!?" Lisa cocked an eyebrow and gave Sally a questioning look.

"I don't see anything wrong with it." She said, answering Lisa's non-verbal question.

Debbie rolled her eyes and took a sip out of her pop. "Hello! Your house is like two miles from the school!" She reminded Lisa. "Plus, you could get jumped and double plus Danny would never let you do that!"

"He let me walk all the way here didn't he?" Lisa assured her worried friend.

"I doubt he even knows you come here for lunch." Sally interjected, finally agreeing with Debbie.

"Like he'd even care – he's over at Jay's with Two-Bit and the rest of his friends, why would I even cross his mind?" Lisa bantered.

"You are his sister, Leece, it's not like he hates you…" Debbie began. She was about to say something else was Lisa cut her off.

"Whatever guys, can we just drop this." Lisa was feeling drained and arguing with her friends wasn't helping her mood. "Lunch hour is almost over and I can't be late to English." Neither of her friends said a word, they just followed her out the door.

XxX

Dallas Winston hated how packed the Dingo was around 12:00pm. He especially hated how the kids from Will Rogers High School would decide to have their lunch hour there. Sure, he had done the same thing when he was a freshman for that one week he survived of high school, but that's because the Dingo was for greasers like him. Not for little school girls to giggle and talk about boys and shit. The Dingo was a rough hangout and those kinds of girls didn't belong there. That was exactly why that girl got shot a few years back.

Dally chose the red booth all the way in the corner of the diner so one, Sylvia Jones, his ex-girlfriend wouldn't be able to find him, and two, he was able to scope out any unsuspecting kids that looked like they needed to be messed with. But no one mess-worthy ever came because it was always those three prissy lookin' gals who would always end up fighting about _something_ while they were there.

Today it was about her brother Danny and Dally almost fell out of his seat when he realized they were talking about Danny Carter. He knew him, knew him well. In fact he's hung out with him a couple of times, but he hadn't seen him since after he bailed him out of jail a week ago.

Taking a drag of the cigarette he had just lit up, he stared at Danny's kid sister and chuckled a little bit at how curly her hair was compared to her older brother's. It was amusing finally to be able to put a name to a face in that joint that was crowding with kids he probably would hate if he knew them, even it was only her last name.

He watched them as they finally stood up and made their way out the door, and leaned forward, smashing his cigarette into the table. Dally actually kind of wished he could go back to Will Roger's just to see how fucked up it probably still was. He was bored to tears and since Buck wasn't hosting a rodeo anytime soon Dally was gonna be broke to tears too. Grumbling to himself he lit up another smoke and rested his head on the wall beside him. If he knew life was gonna be this dull when school started up again, he would've just had Danny leave him in the cooler. He needed something excited – he needed a fight. And he knew exactly how he was gonna do it. Three words: Tim Shepard's car.

XxX

Steve Randle loved his seventh hour Mechanics class. What would make it even better if Sodapop Curtis was still enrolled in school so they'd be able to do it together, but he wasn't too upset because he still had Two-Bit and Danny. He didn't get why it was required for all boys to take the class at least once in their high school career, and apparently neither did Danny because he was the only Senior taking it last minute.

It's not like he was complaining though, Steve loved anything that had to do with fixing and making shit. Especially cars, Steve _loved _cars. And so did Jason McCoy because he was a sophomore and he was sitting on the stool right next to him. Not many underclassmen did the class and Steve never knew why. He was kind of impressed with the kid because of how well he was.

Steve had talked about Jason with Soda a while back when school first began; he was thinking that maybe when Jason was a Junior that he would recruit him to work at the DX with them. Sodapop got right on board with the idea; he loved meeting new people and wouldn't mind another fresh face over at Ellis Grant's place.

"What's up with you and Kathy, Two-Bit?" Danny's voice broke into Steve's thoughts and he looked up from the sketch he was drawing of a tuff car he'd been thinking about putting together.

"Yeah, Two-Bit," He grinned, adding in his two cents, "You guys broke it off _again?_" Two-Bit rolled his eyes and slapped me on the shoulder.

"I didn't, she did." We all oohed. Kathy was always calling it off with Two-Bit, and Steve didn't blame her. He was always flirting with other girls, but that was him and Kathy should know that by now. Breaking up with him isn't doing justice, if anything it's making him wilder.

"When you figure she's gonna take you back?" Jason piped up from behind them. He was working on some sort of wooden sculpture thing that Steve was pretty sure was some sort of clock project they were _all _supposed to be doing.

Two-Bit shrugged off his question. "Probably by the end of the week, I'm gonna ask her to come to the Drive-In with me on Friday," He let the guys know. "Hey, Stevie, you should ask Evie to go with you so I'll have a reason for Kathy to go too."

Steve curled his lip. "You mean like a double date?"

Danny chuckled. "What's wrong with double dates?"

Steve shook his head and went back to his sketch. He was remembering the time when he'd went on a double date with Sodapop and his girl Sandy. Boy had that not been so fun. "Ain't that big of a fan."

"Why?" Two-Bit teased. "You afraid Evie's gonna fall in love with me while we're all hanging out?" The caused a laugh from everyone, even from a few people who weren't in the conversation.

"Yeah," Steve nodded. "That'll be the day."

"Fine then," Two-Bit said. Then he turned to Danny and poked him with his pencil. "You should get a date for Lisa and then she could go on the double date with Kathy and me." Danny gave Two-Bit a look that told him he was crazy.

"You're kidding me, Mathews?" Danny smacked him upside the head and hopped off his stool, reaching over Steve's shoulder to get a look at what he was drawing.

"No, I ain't kiddin' you, Carter," Two-Bit was ready to get on his knees. "How about we get ol' Johnny to go with her, they're friends right?" He suggested. Steve grinned at that one. Their friend Johnny Cade wasn't the 'ask out a girl' type, and Two-Bit knew that too, he was just so damn desperate to get Kathy to say yes somehow. "I'm pretty sure we can convince Johnnycake and Lisa to just go together for my benefit…" Two-Bit continued, but when no one replied to him he got an idea. "Hey, Jason!" He shouted excitedly. "Why don't you ask Lisa to go with you? We all know you got all the girls head over heels for you."

Jason instantly turned red, and went back to working on his clock without saying a word. Steve wanted to roll his eyes at how much he reminded him of Ponyboy. Danny looked up at Jason and raised his eyebrows. Two-Bit clapped his hands and hollered.

"You got a thing with all the girls of Will Rogers, McCoy?" Danny joked. Jason didn't look up from his work; he just bit his lip and kept silent. It wasn't so much all the girls, it was _Danny's _girl. Well, his sister.

"Well maybe Lisa has a thing for him, I'm always hearing girl talkin' about how hot this kid is." Two-Bit gushed, pointing at Jason.

"Alright, alright," Danny looked grossed out, but turned back to the sophomore anyway.

"Well – I mean, I guess it'd be cool…" Jason finally spoke up. Lisa's brother looked like he wanted to rip his own heart out, but instead he just grunted and nodded. Two-Bit threw his hands in the air and smiled wide.

"Yes!" He cried. "Looks like I got a date Friday night!" He sang, throwing his arm across Jason's shoulders.

"You don't know if she'll say yes yet, Two." Steve reminded him. Two-Bit shook his head, he wasn't sure he Steve was talking about Kathy, or Lisa.

"Oh she'll say yes alright! I know she will!" And he prayed they _both_ would.

* * *

So, what do you guys think?

Reviews would be swell :)


	3. Chapter Two

CHAPTER** TWO **

_ WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1966_

Sylvia Jones stood still, her back pressed against a stall in the second floor girls' bathroom. Evie and Kathy were both with her, but they were in front of the mirrors touching up their makeup. The two girls were giggling about something while Sylvia picked at her chipping red nail polish.

"See!" Evie's shout echoed through the tiny bathroom. Sylvia picked her head up and pouted her lips. "It took two days for you to go crawling back." Kathy sucked her teeth and shoved Evie with her shoulder.

"Shut _up_," She growled. "I was not crawling back; we aren't even together again yet." Kathy defended herself.

"You're going on a _date _with him, Kath – odds are you're gonna be by the end of Friday night."

"It's a _double _date, so it ain't like it's a serious thing." Kathy replied, pushing her lipstick tube back into her bag.

"Who's it with?" Sylvia spoke up.

"Two-Bit," Evie stated in an obvious tone.

"No shit, Sherlock," Sylvia rolled her eyes and turned to Kathy. "I mean, who's the other couple you're going with?"

Kathy instantly lit up. "Lisa is going with Jason McCoy!" She cooed just as the late bell to third hour rang, but none of the girls moved an inch.

"Lisa _Carter?"_ Sylvia tilted her head in surprise, "...as in Danny Carter's kid sister?"

Kathy nodded. "She told me this morning; I sorta feel bad for the girl though because she says she don't really like him like that."

Evie laughed. "I cannot believe he even had the guts to ask her out, she says he's been eyeing her since the beginning of the year."

"Well what's the point in her goin' with him if she don't like him back?" Sylvia asked. She never imagined Lisa as the type to have a boyfriend, especially because of how intimating her brother could be. She figured Jason must be easy to read if Lisa could tell he liked her, Danny might like that but she knew Lisa didn't.

"I guess she's just giving it a try." Kathy shrugged.

"Wait, what about you Syl?" Evie questioned. Sylvia shook her head, hinting that she had no idea what Evie was getting at. "You and Dal, you guys together again?" Instead of frowning, like any other normal girl would do, she smirked.

"Not yet, but there's no way Dally's gonna wait much longer, the ass can't live without me forever."

"Ladies," A new feminine voice appeared. The three teenagers turned toward the door and saw a teacher giving them all a very fake smile. "Shouldn't we be in class right about now?"

Sylvia mimicked the look on the teacher's face and nodded harshly. "Yes, we should." Evie and Kathy stifled their giggles until they got out of the bathroom. "Wow, what a shitface." Sylvia muttered swinging her bag along her shoulder. She couldn't wait to be out of that school for good.

XxX

Tim Shepard was going to _kill _Dally. He knew he was the one who scratched his fuckin' car and he wanted him dead. Lighting up a cigarette Tim kicked at the tires of his ugly-ass-maroon-colored-hybrid-truck and cursed.

He took a drag then hopped up in the driver's seat and turned on the engine. Tim assumed that Dally would be having a drink at Buck Merril's place because there's nothing better to do in this town anyway.

He was right. As soon as he pushed his way through the doors rage filled him all over again. Dallas was leaning over the counter grabbing at a beer that Buck wasn't letting him at. "I told you, asshat, you're not getting a drink until you pay me for the last free one I gave you." Dally grumbled loudly and leaned back in his seat.

"That was a week ago, Buck, loosen up!" Dally prodded.

"You've already got my wallet loosened up enough ya animal!"

"More like road kill," Tim entered the conversation, walking further into Buck's. "- Which is what Winston here is gonna be when I get a shot at him."

"Shepard!" Dally's smile was so wide Tim wanted to smack it off. "I've waited almost two days already." He knew what Dal was getting at and that pissed him off even more.

"You little fucker!" Tim shouted, ready to lunge at the other hood.

"Hey!" Buck yelled out from behind the bar. "If yer all are gonna fight then take it outside! I don't need any cops on my case!"

"Yeah, Timmyboy, let's take it outside." Dally said, calmly.

Tim grabbed at Dally's collar and threw him out the door in a second. Dallas stumbled down the steps and almost fell face first into the dirt. Tim raced up to him and swirled him around, punching him right in the jaw. "I wanna kill you, Dallas!"

Dally laughed, and took a swing at Tim's nose, then elbowed him on his temple. "Oh! I'm so scared! You only call me Dallas when you're angry." He cried in a shrill sarcastic voice.

"You better be scared you piece of shit!" Tim jumped forward and tackled Dally to the ground and got some good hits at his ribs. It hurt like hell but Dally had waited so long for some action and he was finally getting it, even if he was gonna have a few broken ribs in the end.

XxX

"Hey, Pony," Johnny Cade whispered loud enough to get his friend's attention, but not the rest of their buddies who were sitting around them at Jay's. "You think I can spend a few nights at your place?"

Pony sipped at the last of his Pepsi and turned to Johnny. "Of course," He told him after throwing it in the garbage. "You never gotta ask, the answer is always gonna be yes." He reminded him.

Johnny nodded and turned his attention back to the group's conversation.

"No way, man," Danny shook his head in disapproval at what Two-Bit was saying. "Dally ain't that stupid."

"Yes way, man," Two-Bit laughed. "He's been that stupid before, what makes you think he's changed?"

"What'd Dally do this time?" Johnny wondered, picking at the fries that the boys have placed in the middle of the table.

Steve turned to the sixteen-year-old across from him and told him about how Dally scratched Tim's car and now he was sporting cracked ribs and a sprained wrist. Johnny winced a little. That hurt like hell and he knew Dally was probably cursing himself right at that very moment.

"He was probably just itching for a fight." Johnny guessed. Everyone nodded because it seemed like a reasonable explanation. Tim and Dally usually blew off their steam on each other so it was a usual occurrence for them to always be fighting and tearing each other apart.

"So, Two-Bit," Pony began, starting to change the subject. He didn't like talking about Dally a lot because it got him thinking too much. "What's this I hear about you and Kathy this Friday?"

"Oh, don't forget 'bout Lisa and Jason." Two-Bit was grinning ear to ear and shoving his elbow in Danny's side.

"Cut it out, Ass-Bit." Danny elbowed him back and positioned himself more comfortably in the chair he was sitting in. "It's just one night, don't get too excited."

Ponyboy cocked his head to the side like a puppy would. "What does that mean?"

"Yeah, Dan, what – you think Jason's gonna stop at one date with your sister?" Steve accused with wide eyes.

"Yeah…" Danny said, like it should've been obvious to everyone. "He doesn't like her like that; he just agreed to take her because Two-Bit needed him to."

Two-Bit and Steve broke into a fresh batch of laughter. "Aw, man, Dannyboy," Two-Bit cried out. "Don't _you_ need a wakeup call."

Danny's face turned all kinds of reds and he leaned forward. "What?" Now he was worried. "Wait – you think McCoy actually what, has a crush on Lisa?"

Two-Bit shook his head. "We don't think, we _know._"

Danny scrunched up his face and scoffed. "You're joshin' me right now."

"We ain't." Steve assured him.

"Well then hell with Friday night!"

"What do you mean 'hell with Friday night'? Dude, Lisa's fifteen, I think you need to loosen up your leash on her." Steve said.

"Yeah, Stevie's right, she ain't a little girl anymore." Two-Bit added, trying to sound as nice as possible.

Danny covered his face with his hands and groaned. "What the fuck, man?"

"Um guys, I hate to interrupt your conversation but lunch hour is over in ten minutes." Ponyboy announced.

"Yeah, we oughta get goin'." Johnny agreed, standing up from his chair.

"Sorry, Danny," Two-Bit apologized.

"Damn, this is your entire fault."

"Yeah, guess it is." But Two-Bit didn't mind, he was doing Lisa a favor; because the day she'd ever be able to convince her brother _herself _that she was old enough to date would be the day hell freezes over.

XxX

Joey Carter was about to rip his math homework to shreds. "Mom!" he called out loudly. No answer. "Dad!" …still there's no answer. Grumbling loudly, he stomped out of his room and raced down the steps. Lisa was at the stove, stirring something in a big pot.

"They both work late tonight, Joey, remember? It's Wednesday." His older sister said, not missing a beat. With a loud sigh, Joey collapsed at the dinner table. "What's your problem?"

"Math is my dang problem."

Lisa smiled at her kid brother. Math had been her 'dang problem' when she was in seventh grade too. In fact, it still kind of is.

"Well sorry, kiddo," She replied sheepishly. "I ain't know shit about math so you're on your own for now."

"Lisa, watch your language." Danny scolded as he stepped through the front door.

"Sorry." She muttered, annoyed.

Turning off the heat on the stove she carefully carried the pot over to the table where Joey sat and placed it on top of a kitchen mat. Getting out three plates she put a few scoops of mac and cheese in each bowl and placed them in front of everyone. Quickly walking over to the drawers under the stove, she took out three forks and shoved them at her brothers, then sat down herself. Taking the scrunchie she had on her wrist, she tied her hair back into a ponytail and began to dig in.

"Oh, goodness," She gushed. "I'm so hungry."

"Me too, all of my math homework is so tiring." Joey complained.

Danny opened his mouth to say something just as the phone rang. Lisa jumped up so quick she got a little dizzy. Her brothers gave her a weird look but she ignored it and tried to _walk _to the phone and not _run _like she wanted to. She knew who was calling and it made her stomach fill with butterflies, but not necessarily the good ones.

"Hello?" She picked up, pretending she didn't know who it was.

"Hey, Leece, it's Jason."

Lisa wanted to scream. She could feel her cheeks get hot at how he called her by her nickname. "Oh, hey Jason," She replied as nonchalantly as she could. The thing was Lisa didn't really have that much of a crush on the kid, and she sort of felt weird and awkward talking to him. She had so much adrenaline in her and she just wanted to hang up the phone. For his sake though, she was going to try to be cool about it.

Danny's head whipped up from his bowl when he heard Jason's name and he could feel something stirring inside of him, and it wasn't the mac and cheese he just swallowed.

As Lisa giggled and acted like a little school girl on the phone, Danny realized that Two-Bit was right. She wasn't a little girl anymore, and that made Danny wanna gouge his eyes out. Putting down his fork, he pushed his bowl at his younger brother who would gladly accept seconds.

"You feel alright?" Joey asked, wondering why Danny had just given him half his dinner. Danny nodded and stared at Lisa's back as she talked to Jason on the phone.

"Yeah," he lied, getting up from the table. "- Just not all that hungry." He cursed Lisa under his breath, why'd she had to stress him out so much?

XxX

Angela Shepard rolled her eyes at her older brother, Tim, who lay motionless on the couch in front of the TV. He had refused to take the icepack she had just offered him for his nose but she could tell he wanted it.

"I don't get you," She squinted her eyes at Tim and he didn't even look over at her. All of his attention was focused at the ceiling. "Why do you get into fights over stuff like this?" Rolling his eyes and moaning Tim sat up from the couch and glared at his little sister.

"Why _wouldn't _I get into a fight over stuff like this." Tim wanted to slap her upside the head. "He messed with my damn car, Angel, I ain't just gonna let that slide."

"Yeah," Curly added, walking into the room, pulling on his old jacket. "Exactly like how he won't let it slide that I skipped school Monday."

Tim picked up a pillow and threw it hard at his kid brother. It hit him in the face, so he picked it up and kicked it back at Tim. "You're already doing a rat's ass job in all your classes, if you wanna graduate high school you can't just keep skipping."

"Whatever." Curly replied, opening the front door.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Tim yelled out. When Curly ignored him and walked out the door, Tim shot up. He stifled a shout at how bad his side hurt. "This fuckin' kid." He grumbled limping to the door.

"Ask him where he's going." Angela told him.

"No shit." Tim whispered, finally getting to the door. When he got it opened and looked out into the night, Curly was nowhere around. _Dammit. _He thought to himself. Walking back into the house he slammed the door shut, he didn't even bother looking at his sister because he knew she'd give him shit about being too slow. So instead, he trudged up the stairs and headed to bed.

* * *

Reviews would be nice :)


	4. Chapter Three

CHAPTER** THREE **

_ FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1966_

"Are you ready to go?" Kathy's voice ventured, into her bedroom. Lisa was standing in front of a full body mirror. She had on a pretty white button up blouse, and a cute black skirt. Both were Kathy's. It was the prettiest thing she's ever worn and she loved it. Kicking at the floor in her slick black heels she had to smile.

"Sure…" Turning around she took a deep breath and gave Kathy a look.

"You look great, kid," She complimented her. "Your hair and makeup came out perfectly, I swear."

Lisa nodded her head and played with the hem of her skirt. "Kathy, I'm real nervous." She admitted.

"Aw, don't be, everything's gonna be fine."

"No, it's not that," Lisa clarified quickly. "I don't know if I wanna do this with Jason, what if he gets the wrong idea?" Kathy gave Lisa an understanding look.

When Jason asked Lisa out on the double date with Kathy and Two-Bit she didn't know _what _to think, or for that matter _say. _She looked directly at Jason and saw the hope in his eyes begin to disappear when she held off answering. She didn't even think before she let the word yes blurt out of her mouth. His smile was so wide she didn't even regret it. Until now.

She can't figure out if she likes him any more than a friend or not. Sure, he's got the most gorgeous brown eyes she's ever seen, and he's one of the best looking guys she knows, but she's not all that attracted to his personality. He's super sweet, and nice; he wouldn't lay a finger on her, but he's also quite and unobservant. Lisa would like him better if he was more outgoing and noticed the little things about her. The worst thing is Jason isn't all that funny. That's a total turn off for Lisa, and even though his laugh is adorable and his smile is cute, him not having that well of a sense of humor scares her.

"Just be real with him, if during the date he tries to make a move and you don't like it, tell him." Kathy sat down on her bed and patted the spot next to her. Lisa took it and crossed her legs.

"And if I do like it?" Lisa pressed for more information.

Kathy grinned. "Well, if you do like it then go for it! If he asked you to go on another date, or to be his girl then say yes! Only time can tell with these things, Lisa, it'll all work out in the long run." She promised.

"Ok." Lisa stood up from the bed and took another deep breath. "I'm ready now."

Kathy clapped her hands and jumped up off the bed. "Great!" She gushed. Grabbing onto Lisa's hand, the two zoomed down the stairs into the waiting arms of their dates.

"Damn," Two-Bit commented as the girls raced down the stairs, "I though ya'll decided to elope without us."

"If only we did." Kathy teased with a fake sigh.

"Well me and Jason here almost did," Two-Bit cracked a grin. "Keven came in real quick to grab something and glared daggers at us I swear I though he was gonna kill me."

That one gained a nervous laugh from Jason and Lisa dug her nails into her upper arm.

"Didn't I tell you to stop callin' him Keven, he goes by Kip."

"I don't see why, that's the stupid name I've ever heard." Two-Bit bit back a laugh.

"You and Evie have been spending way too much time together, she said that same thing." Lisa smiled.

"We ready to head out?" Two-Bit stood up from the couch and pointed to the door.

"Of course," Kathy said.

Two-Bit swung open the front door and bowed a little. "Ladies first," He said in a mocked British accent.

"Obviously, Two, that's why we're waiting for you to go." Lisa blurted. The room went silent for a moment until Kathy let out a shriek of laughter. Lisa could feel her cheeks burning up and she cleared her throat.

"Man, you walked right into that one." Kathy snorted.

Two-Bit's face twisted up and he looked like a five year old kid who was about to throw a tantrum. "You callin' my girl a queer, Carter?" He joked.

Lisa shook her head and let a giggle slip. Turning to Jason she used her newfound confidence to grab onto his hand. "Come on, Jay, let's leave these girlies alone."

Jason was so surprised at her gesture he almost gasped. Instead, he stood up with her and the two walked out of Kathy's front door. His heart was pounding so hard he hoped she didn't notice.

"Hey!" He heard Two-Bit from inside. "We're you're ride!"

Lisa's laugh made Jason's stomach clench. "We'll then get your asses out here and do your job!"

Jason held tightly onto Lisa's hand as the two climbed into the back of Two-Bit's Thunderbird. He never wanted to let go.

XxX

"We're really doing this?" Ponyboy asked raising a brow. Everyone had noticed Pony seemed a little apprehensive as they slid after him under the fence to the Drive-In to avoid paying.

"Yes, Pony," Danny assured him. "We're really doing this."

"Doesn't this seem a little overboard, though?" Pony wondered.

"It's nothing but right." Kip Devier snarled at the younger boy as the guys strolled into the parking lot.

"Don't you trust Jason?" Pony continued ignoring Kathy's older brother. He wasn't really familiar with him and truth be told he made Pony kind of nervous

"Yeah, I trust him," Danny explained. "It's just I wanna make sure he doesn't do nothin'."

"What's he gonna do?"

Danny sighed. Ponyboy just didn't get it. He was only a year younger than Lisa and Jason but he was still so oblivious to these kinds of things. Maybe Darry was keeping him a little too much in the dark.

"He means sex and shit." Dally piped up from behind them. Pony's ears turned red and Johnny made a sound in the back of his throat.

"Way to be subtle, Dal." Steve chuckled.

"Lisa ain't like that," Sodapop reminded everyone. Soda and Lisa weren't real close or anything but those few times they hung out when Danny brought Joey and her to the Curtis house she seemed like a cool gal, he knew for sure she wasn't gonna get mixed up with Jason. "Has she even had her first kiss yet?"

Danny's lip curled and he shivered. "I hope not."

"I bet she has," Dally said. "She ain't bad on the eyes."

"Hey!" Danny scolded. He didn't wanna think that Dal was eyeing his sister.

"I'm just stating the facts, man." He shot back.

"When do you even get a look at her?" Kip asked. Kathy was friends with the chick and all the times she'd come over their house to hang out he'd never got a more than a glimpse of her. The seven were now standing around a sea of cars ranging from crappy old trucks to high strung Mustangs.

"Over at the Dingo during lunch hour, her and her friends always eat there." Dally said pulling out a cigarette.

Danny nearly had a heart attack. "The Dingo!?" He shouted.

Dally furrowed his eyebrows and lit up his cancer stick. "Yeah? Is that a problem?" Danny's eyes were flaring.

"Yeah it's a problem! The Dingo is too rough for a girl like Lisa, are you kidding me letting her stay there!?"

Dally didn't bother hiding his angered laugh. "You're fuckin' joking," He snarled. "You're sister ain't my priority, big shot, it's your job to know where she eats her damn lunch."

"Guys, quit screamin' you're attracting attention," Sodapop said waving his hands around. "If Two-Bit and Jason are here with the girls they're sure to know we're here in about two seconds."

"Why don't we head inside to get some pops, cool down." Johnny said barley above a whisper. Everyone agreed silently and the group made their way to the snack bar.

XxX

"Shepard!"

Curly moaned and rolled over on the surface he was lying on, his eyes still closed. He had a major headache and he didn't even remember where he was. He breathed in deeply and triggered his gag reflex. Coughing, he realized he was at Buck's place.

"Curly, you piece of shit, get up!" Buck's voice growled angrily. In an instant Curly was on the floor and moaning even louder. "Tim wants ya."

"Tell Tim he can go to hell." Curly mumbled curling up into a ball.

"Tim, go to hell." Buck spoke. Curly heard a skin on skin whack and he flinched.

"Curly," He heard his brother's voice and wanted to throw up all over again. "Let's go."

"Why?" His eyes were still closed and he didn't feel like moving.

"Because I said so that's why."

"I ain't goin' nowhere."

"Angel needs you." Tim grinned when he saw his younger brother's eyes snap open. He knew using Angela would get a reaction out of him, now he just hopes it'll get him to get in the truck.

"What she need me for, weren't you home with her two seconds ago?"

"She says its stuff between you two." Usually Tim wasn't this patient with Curly, but he knew it was the only way he was gonna get him home before another party started at Buck's and once that happened Tim himself wouldn't even be able to get out of there.

"You're such a bad liar, man." But instead of closing his eyes again, he sat up and leaned on the couch Buck had pushed him off of.

"It's been two days." Tim ignored his accusation.

"What's that gotta do with me?"

"Mom doesn't want you out this long."

"Like mom cares."

"She does you asshole." Tim snapped. Their mom worked hard and was always out, barely home, but she loved her boys to death even if she rarely showed it. Their dad on the other hand could go rot in hell for the way he treated his family.

"Whatever." Curly didn't like talking about their mom; he just wanted the conversation to end.

"Are you gonna come with me, or what?" Tim was getting impatient now.

"Or what."

"You're hung over."

It was more of a statement than a question but Curly replied anyway, "What's it to you?" Tim sneered and stomped over to Curly and threw him over his shoulder. "Hey!" Curly protested, smacking his brother on the back as hard as he could. "Let me go you jackass!" There was no way he was gonna let people see Tim carrying him to the truck. "Dammit, I'll come home!" He gave up. "Just put me down!"

"Ok." Tim threw him to the floor and pushed open the front door taking long strides to where he was parked. Curly clenched his teeth and picked himself off the floor, kicked some dirt in Buck's direction and stalked off to follow Tim. What a crappy two days.

XxX

"How do you think Lisa's date is going?" Debbie wondered aloud as she worked on fixing her chipped nail polish. She was sitting in Sally's bedroom on her bed. They were watching a beach movie marathon on TV but it was getting boring so Debbie shut it off.

Sally shrugged and continued to straighten her hair with Debbie's straightener. Since Sally didn't own one she usually came to Debbie's house to do her hair. "Good enough." Debbie rolled her eyes and bit her lip. She hated how Sally never seemed to care about anything that didn't have to do with her.

"Shit!" Debbie gasped when she'd accidentally slipped and messed up her thumb's paint.

"I'm not that big of a fan of Jason…" Sally admitted, putting down the hair straightener. Debbie cocked her eyebrow and looked up at her friend.

"Why not? He's super cute and not a jerk like most of the greasers in the school."

Sally huffed and threw her hair up into a high ponytail. That was so not true. Jason _was _a jerk; no one seemed to realize it but her. She had a secret though that she wouldn't dare tell Debbie or Lisa.

She and Jason had a thing a while back and he made them hide it from everyone, no one ever found out. They thought they were just good friend, including Deb and Leece. Anyway, he was always such an ass to her and didn't treat her right. When they were friends he would be super nice to her and they'd have such a great time but when they labeled each other as boyfriend and girlfriend he got all pushy and mean. That's when Sally ended it and Jason was the one who started to whole rumor that she was pregnant last year.

"What even happened to you two?" Debbie questioned. She didn't like Sally talking mean about their friend's soon-to-be-boyfriend. Maybe she was just jealous of Lisa. Sally was jealous of everyone.

"Nothing." Sally barked back.

Debbie shrugged and decided to turn back on the TV, there was no use in fighting anymore. "How's Kelley?"

Sally was thankful that her friend decided to change the subject, but no so thankful for the answer she had to give. "She told me she wants to come home, she might catch a bus or something to sneak over and stay at Danny's until schools over."

"Why?" Debbie seemed really surprised.

Sally shrugged again. "I don't know, she just says she hates it there."

"No I mean, why Danny's?"

"Well they did used to date and I think they still like each other."

"She better stay at her college, your parents would be really mad if she didn't."

Sally agreed. "I just hate how she doesn't want me to tell mom and dad; they gave up everything we had for her to go to college and now she's just changing her mind."

"Tell them anyway." Debbie suggested. Sally gaped in horror. She'd never rat out her own sister.

"No way, I promised I wouldn't." But when Debbie gave her a look that made her think otherwise, Sally was getting second thoughts.

"Did she say when she was going to sneak back?" Debbie pestered for more questions. Sally shook her head.

"All she said was that she'd be seeing me soon, I asked her how she was gonna get out of it and she told me not to worry…" But Sally _was_ worrying. This was _college _they were talking about; it's not the same as skipping school. If Kelley got caught it would just cause a heap of trouble that Sally didn't want either of the two to be in.

"What if she gets caught?" Debbie knew just the questions to ask to get Sally thinking.

"Damn, I don't know Deb!" She replied hastily. "I wish she'd just stop bein' so high strung and stop messing everything up." Before tears could rush out of her eyes Sally turned back on the TV and tried to forget about how much crap her sister was causing for her. These were the days she wished she was an only child.

XxX

"I can't believe Steve came here _without _me." Evie said angrily. She and Sylvia were sitting in the snack bar watching Steve and his group of friends staring out the window at either the movie, or making fun of people who were sitting in the cold.

"Believe it baby, they're all queers." She sneered. Sylvia wasn't exactly angry that Dally was there without her, she knew he'd never ask her to the movies; she was expecting him to at least check in at Buck's to see her but he hasn't. She couldn't help but wonder if he really meant it when he said they were over for good.

"I wonder why they're even here, it's not like they have any dates to make out with." Evie announced, watching Steve intently.

"They're just gonna make out with each other I suppose." Sylvia bantered. Evie sighed at her friends antics. Whenever Dallas or any of the guys messed with them, she'd always play the 'they're gay' act.

"Oh my gosh, wait!" Evie said suddenly realizing something. "Doesn't Kathy have that double date with Lisa today!?"

Sylvia sat up understanding what her friend was getting at. "Well I'll be damned…" She smirked.

"They're _spying _on them!" Evie whispered her eyes wide.

"Oh it's payback time." Sylvia grinned, standing up. The boys were screwed – big time.

* * *

Reviews are welcome to let me know if you're enjoying the story, or want me to change something!

:)


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